Super Little Caves Review

Every now and then it’s nice to try something different. I’m familiar with shooters, love RPGs, have fun with puzzles, and enjoy a good adventure, however I’ve never traveled through a surreal and labyrinthine world as a fly rescuing a princess. It’s about as strange an experience as it sounds, but despite a few control irritations it’s oddly compelling.

In Super Little Caves, players assume control of a lone fly and attempt to guide it through a series of maze-like environments. All to save Princess Luna Moth from the clutches of some mischievous grasshoppers. The fly slowly buzzes through a number of incredibly varied areas on his quest; flitting through narrow openings, pushing objects around to access new areas, gathering flax seeds to pay off a few gate-keeping insects, and so on. It’s certainly a bizarre combination of maze navigation and adventure game-style puzzles, but it works surprisingly well.

In its own way, Super Little Caves is a beautiful game. I know not everyone is crazy for pixels but the strange caverns and creatures the fly encounters on his journey are quite impressive to look at. The music is really well done, too, and compliments the visuals almost perfectly. The way it cuts out when the fly is submerged in water is a nice touch. I’ve also been enjoying the numerous puzzles I’ve come across despite their being relatively simple. Acting as a middleman/messenger between a subterranean cat and a unicorn is only one example of the weird stuff I’ve had to do, and it’s just as fantastic as it sounds.

If it weren’t for the rather arduous need to backtrack and the occasionally vague puzzles I’d he hard-pressed to come up with any complaints. It’s unfortunate to have to spend so much time guiding the fly back through several areas in order to grab a single item, then fly all the way back. It’s even more unfortunate that I have to fight the controls the whole way, along with the fly sticking to the environment all the time. This is also problematic when coming across some of the puzzles as there’s usually no indication as to what has to be done that can lead to some unnecessary time spent creeping back to previous locations.

The thing is, even with the slightly irritating controls and somewhat loopy problems to solve Super Little Caves is still an interesting experience. It’s certainly not going to win over any action junkies but it’s a beautiful, surreal, and relaxing way to, well, relax.